The current plan is unsupported, although I’m hoping to find some fool(s) to bribe with beer to feed me pasta. I quite like the idea of being unsupported though: “Oh no, I have no support crew, I will be forced to sit down for a bit while I cook my own food. Dammit, I really wanted to start straight away on another lap.”
I’m not too sure whether we should allow someone who’s gone over to the dark side into ‘our’ camp or not 
. It’ll be like ‘Sleepless in the saddle’ all over again. You will get the obligatory bit of stick of course. Wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t dish it out, now would it?
Back to the training questions above. I would agreed with everything that’s been said so far. I train at least 3 times a week. This is a combination of 2 hours hilly off road and 1 1/2 hours (twice a week) on road and hilly. You really need to concentrate on riding for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a time. As long as you throw in the odd night ride you’ll be OK. Make sure that this is off road though. Most of my training is hilly because Mountain Mayhem isn’t flat. Whatever training you end up doing, make sure you get the heart beat going, as it’s certainly going to be busting a gut at mountain mayhem. Also, go find some mud to play in - hopefully it’s going to be nice and dry though 
.
I’m considering riding the Coker this year, like I did at ‘Sleepless’, but if things get wet I’m switching back to my 29er. This means my training is on both these unis unfortunately. Doing anything physical will help with overall fitness, but you can’t substitute for actually riding the unicycle.
Hill, hills and more hills guys.
You love it really.
Steve 
Hmmm, looks like I’d better move!
Paul
Right so that’s hills, hills and then just when you thought you’d had enough, some more hills. I think I get the picture.
Fortunately I don’t live in Cambridge.
Riding in the dark has been mentioned several times and yes I did realise that I would have to do this as the race lasts for 24 hours, but what type of light does everyone use?
I don’t have anything at the moment so does anyone have any suggestions, preferably ones that when the wife sees the cost she doesn’t go, HOW MUCH!!!
I use a set of VistaLite NightStick halogen lights I bought for commuting a few years ago. I just put one lamp (usually 10W, it’s enough for unicycling speed) on a helmet mount and put the battery in the camelback. It runs for about 1hr 40mins on 10W on one stick battery (enough for Sleepless but probably a bit too short for MM’s longer laps - I’ll have to take a bigger battery). They were quite expensive when I bought them, but they come up on ebay for reasonable money now. Some people use HIDs or Luxeon LEDs, that are brighter and more efficient than halogen, but are still extremely expensive. I think Joe Marshall made some DIY Luxeon LED lights - don’t know how much all the component parts cost though - presumably cheaper than buying a ready-made lamp.
BTW: If you find some NightStick lamps on ebay and need a helmet mount I’ve accumulated a couple of spares and would be willing to let one go to a good cause. In fact I’ve got enough bits to lend you a light and cable as well if you’re stuck (but I’d want them back eventually), but not batteries (but that’s where a lot of the cost is with halogen lights anyway: the bulbs are relatively cheap).
Rob
The race instructions last year specified 10W (halogen equivalent) as a minimum. Although it is likely the fastest team will all do a night lap, this will not be the case for all three teams unless the course is much shorter (very unlikely).
I’ll bring my 10W halogen to the event as a backup for anyone who needs them. Currently I am testing my DIY Cree LED which is brighter and has a lighter battery.
Keith
Ian - I will be using my Lumicycle lights but I have a “spare” Cateye Doubleshot LED light that you are very welcome to borrow either for the event or practice rides.
Phil
100 repetitions of Castle Mount for you young man.
Seriously, part of the Ken Looi suggested training strategy which is possibly why he’s quite fit:
- Find biggest hill near you that you can just about ride up
- Start at bottom of hill
- Ride to top.
- Ride down as fast as possible
- Ride to top
- …
No stopping, repeat 10 times (or for however long you have to train).
There are two hills near Cambridge with a bridleway on them, and it is minging mud in winter. Do repetitions on them. Can’t remember what they’re called, look on OS map.
Joe
On the subject of lights… I’m after a new torch for backup/extra lighting in the tricky bits or if the helmet light gives up the ghost. Are the 3W Luxeon/Cree torches people sell on ebay for less than a tenner (you know the things - £2 plus £7 postage “from Hong Kong” or whatever) any good? In theory they should be not bad - probably half as much light as a 10W halogen? Anybody had any experience of them - get what you pay for or a good deal?
Joe McLean had one of the “loads of little LEDs” torches at SITS last year that was pretty good, but the 3W Luxeons claim to be just as bright and much neater - although most of them use CR123 Lithium batteries that seem to be really expensive - a quick search found two plus a charger at about £30! Some use good old AA or AAA though, which would be more convenient (but they don’t mention running time).
Rob
The ‘7Watt’ version I bought makes a great hand warmer Drawing something like 1.5A means battery life is measured in minutes rather than hours (with rechargable CR123). I assume the ‘driver circuit’ is purely a resistor. Therefore there is a very good reason why they don’t mention battery life!
I’m looking to build a very light head torch for the kids and/or leave attached backup for my commute. This might be ready for this years BUC.
Keith
Hmmm. Cheap Luxeons (with expensive batteries) perhaps not such a good idea then. What about the multi-LED “pepperpot” torches like the one Joe had?
Rob
I am still thrilled with my 99p (plus £10 postage) 24 led torch. It’s a good backup, but is only good for 45 mins tops on 3 good quality AAA’s. I’m planning to buy a Dinotte 5w or 3w Luxeon unit as a main light, and use the ‘fairy lights’ as backup. That said, Decathlon do a great 3 led plastic front light that I bought for my road bike, which is incredibly lightweight, bright and costs £6. 4 or more of those would be a good ‘redundant array’
If you have access to a soldering iron, buy one of these,
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut685
I know they’re in Australia, but postage is cheap, only downside is you have to wait about a week or so for it to turn up. They’re reliable, and if anything gets lost in the post they’ll send out a replacement quickly.
Plus a battery box. Plus 2AA batteries. Plus some superglue and gaffa tape / heatshrink wrap to tidy up everything.
It is so so much better than any torch you can buy on ebay, properly regulated, lasts for approx 4 hours off a pair of AA rechargeables, and is bright enough to ride with. Oh yeah, total system weight <100g I think.
There are a total of 4 solder joints to do, and I can solder it up, which means it is very easy, I am really bad at anything practical and I made it work first time, with no electronics knowledge other than red wires = positive and go to red wires or things marked +, black wires = negative and go to black wires or things marked -.
I mounted the LED + lens in a ‘sports cap’ from a mineral water bottle, with a few holes in it to put zip ties to attach to the helmet and a bit of rubber glued on the bottom to keep it stable. Oh and 1p coins behind it to make up any spare space, filled with heatsink goo (from maplin) which might help heat transfer. Battery case is strapped to back of helmet, again rubber glued on to it to keep it stable.
I just leave it on my helmet all the time. It’s great. Don’t notice it’s there, but it’s always around when you need it.
Theoretically this should be almost as bright as a CatEye DoubleShot, as it is a newer generation of LEDs, which are much brighter for the same power.
It isn’t as bright as my lumicycles, but then it doesn’t weigh 800g, and it doesn’t cost silly money.
I also made a triple cree LED light, which is easily as bright as my lumicycles and runs for 2x the runtime, but does need a 12v battery, which is always going to be a bit pricey unless you use a heavy lead acid one. Fantastic if you already happen to have lumicycles or similar though, all the light you need for riding, costs about £40 in total to build the light head, plus however much for a battery + charger.
Joe - don’t buy a dinotte or 3w luxeon. They will be about 1/2 to 2/3 as bright as the kit I linked above.
Joe
If you have access to a soldering iron, buy one of these,
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut685
I know they’re in Australia, but postage is cheap, only downside is you have to wait about a week or so for it to turn up. They’re reliable, and if anything gets lost in the post they’ll send out a replacement quickly.
Plus a battery box. Plus 2AA batteries. Plus some superglue and gaffa tape / heatshrink wrap to tidy up everything.
It is so so much better than any torch you can buy on ebay, properly regulated, lasts for approx 4 hours off a pair of AA rechargeables, and is bright enough to ride with. Oh yeah, total system weight <100g I think.
There are a total of 4 solder joints to do, and I can solder it up, which means it is very easy, I am really bad at anything practical and I made it work first time, with no electronics knowledge other than red wires = positive and go to red wires or things marked +, black wires = negative and go to black wires or things marked -.
I mounted the LED + lens in a ‘sports cap’ from a mineral water bottle, with a few holes in it to put zip ties to attach to the helmet and a bit of rubber glued on the bottom to keep it stable. Oh and 1p coins behind it to make up any spare space, filled with heatsink goo (from maplin) which might help heat transfer. Battery case is strapped to back of helmet, again rubber glued on to it to keep it stable.
I just leave it on my helmet all the time. It’s great. Don’t notice it’s there, but it’s always around when you need it.
Theoretically this should be almost as bright as a CatEye DoubleShot, as it is a newer generation of LEDs, which are much brighter for the same power.
It isn’t as bright as my lumicycles, but then it doesn’t weigh 800g, and it doesn’t cost silly money.
I also made a triple cree LED light, which is easily as bright as my lumicycles and runs for 2x the runtime, but does need a 12v battery, which is always going to be a bit pricey unless you use a heavy lead acid one. Fantastic if you already happen to have lumicycles or similar though, all the light you need for riding, costs about £40 in total to build the light head, plus however much for a battery + charger.
Joe - don’t buy a dinotte or 3w luxeon. They will be about 1/2 to 2/3 as bright as the kit I linked above.
Joe
Thanks Joe. Keg gave me that link but suggested it was top secret at the moment due to imminent publication…
I’ll probably give it a go sometime.
Rob
Thanks for all the training tips. I did my first official training session yesterday. Riding up hills off road for 2 hours is quite hard work, I don’t think I’d realised how often I usually take breaks. It was fun though, I think. Not sure. Is your vision supposed to throb?
And there’s no way that my heavy rusty 26" is going to last until the summer. I suppose that a KH 29" is the best thing to replace it with, bearing this race in mind? They’re pretty expensive though. But there don’t seem to be many other options.
Thanks for all the training tips. I did my first official training session yesterday. Riding up hills off road for 2 hours is quite hard work, I don’t think I’d realised how often I usually take breaks. It was fun though, I think. Not sure. Is your vision supposed to throb?
And there’s no way that my heavy rusty 26" is going to last until the summer. I suppose that a KH 29" is the best thing to replace it with, bearing this race in mind? They’re pretty expensive though. But there don’t seem to be many other options.
I have a set of light and battery from when I did Mountain mayhem, if any one want to borrow it for this year they are welcome, I can bring it to BUC I guess. Its a 10w lamp on a helmet mount with a fairly heavy battery to go either in a pack or straped to the uni frame.
Just to confirm that I received the last signature over the weekend and so the entry forms have now been sent off. Once I receive confirmation that all 3 teams have been accepted, then I’ll post here/email you.
UNICYCLE.COM-NO GEARS
Steve Colligan
Sam wakeling
Des Devlin
Phil Himsworth
UNICYCLE.COM-NO HANDLEBARS
Paul Royle
Mark Wiggins
Joe McLean
Tue Johansen
UNICYCLE.COM-NO BRAKES
Chris Dobbie
Rob Northcott
Beth Tichborne
Ian Stockwell
Kit Johnson
All the riders in team “Unicycle.com-No Brakes” will be riding, as teams are allowed to have 5 riders in them if there’s a female in the team. Rob Northcott will be also acting as a reserve for the other two teams, just in case we end up being a man down before the event. Obviously if this happens, then the 3rd team will be as the others - a team of 4.
Steve
Hills…:D, more hills…:D:D and even more hills…:D:D:D
My uni for this event is a stock Nimbus 26 Muni, which comes with 170mm cranks.
From reading this forum it seems to me that most folks switch to something a bit shorter as they gain experience and strength, and I have been considering going to 150’s but would like to make the switch fairly soon so that I can be completely at home with them by the time SSMM happens.
I would be grateful for any advice, is the increase in speed a worthwile trade off for the reduction in leverage, is the climbing ability significantly reduced with the 150’s, I suppose the key question is which would be quicker around the SSMM course. I realise that there are no straight answers to any of these but any opinions would be welcome.
Thanks